


The Trees Are Alive (With the Sound of Music)

by SegaBarrett



Category: Evil Dead (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Extra Gift, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26870053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SegaBarrett/pseuds/SegaBarrett
Summary: Cheryl takes charge and tries to save them all.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6
Collections: Trick or Treat Exchange 2020





	The Trees Are Alive (With the Sound of Music)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Missy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I don't own Evil Dead, and I make no money from this.
> 
> CW: Allusions to "that" tree scene but nothing explicit, and a period joke.

Ashley wasn’t listening to a word she said, and Cheryl wanted to scream. She wanted to start screaming and simply never, ever stop, until they carried her off and put her in whatever hospital they stuck people in when they couldn’t stop screaming.

She could feel the pain hitting her then; the adrenaline must have kept it at bay, she realized. Scrapes and bruises over her arms; she would be okay, she told herself, as long as she could get out of here. Out of here and into a hot bath and underneath the covers, the way she’d dealt with other things that hurt. 

“Ashley, if you don’t take me out of this place right now…” She thought she was saying it, at least. Or maybe she was just screaming, still, shrieking at her brother. She had helped him before, she had always looked up to him but he was going to leave her here with these things and the trees and she could feel her mind going, running away with itself. _The dish ran away with the spoon…_

“Cheryl, just calm down, okay?” 

She couldn’t hear him over the pounding n her ears, and she was sure the floor would open up and branches would sneak up…

“I don’t want to calm down!” she snapped. “Easy for you to say, ‘calm down Cheryl’ when it didn’t happen to you!”

She wrapped her arms around herself and pressed her gaze forward, hard into Ash’s eyes and then Scott’s for good measure. 

“If you don’t take me back, I’ll just start walking.” Her voice quivered with the weight of the threat; she would have to carry it out, too, and it was terrifying. But nothing would be worse than staying here and knowing what could come in as she slept, while the others told her to calm down. 

Ash sighed. 

“All right. We’ll get out of here. I’ll get you in a place in town.”

“You should come with me.” Cheryl grabbed his hand so tight that she nearly wrenched it out of its socket. Ash looked at her, annoyed. 

“Cheryl, you don’t always have to play the little sister!"

Cheryl hissed.

“Come see,” she said a moment later. She couldn’t bear it, couldn’t think about what it would mean to go back, to see the trees again. And she wanted to protect Ash, to keep him far away from this.

But she also had to be believed. If he drove her back out of obligation, then she would live the rest of her life with something only she had seen, something only she had felt.

She’d be the traumatized one, the broken one. The one who Ash had to introduce to his friends with a little apology about how his sister wasn’t quite right, under a hushed tone, trying to be polite.

Linda and Shelly would try to be nice about it, later. Would tell her that it could have happened to any of them – with “it” being scared of nothing, scared of the woods. With that little shared laugh that women can get spooked by anything. The little laugh directed at her.

And she would hate that more than the boys mocking her. It would be clear that it was all pity and that they would wonder what had made Cheryl “snap”. They would whisper that it was jealousy, that they were out with their boyfriends and Cheryl was a fifth wheel who had to make things difficult for everyone else, poor thing.

“You need to come with me,” Cheryl repeated. “You need to let me show you.”

***

She wanted to cry, and she wanted to run. But she wouldn’t let them see her like that. And running wouldn’t do any good, either.

She could hear the woods around her, calling her in as they had earlier in the night, whispering to her. It was like that story where the man had driven up in his car and lured the girl off her porch, and she had known she would never see her family again but that it was what she had to do.

Cheryl figured that she could see a little bit of how that girl would have felt… what had her name been? Carol? Carlotta?

Connie. It had been Connie, pretty Connie who stepped off the edge…

She wanted to ask if Ash heard the woods whispering too, but she knew that even if he did, he would never admit it. Boys were like that.

When Ashley had been twelve years old, he had been climbing a tree and had lost his foothold, going tumbling down and breaking his arm in three places.

But the other boys had wanted to keep playing, so Ash had tried to pull himself off the ground and keep running after them. Cheryl had run and told their dad, and Ash had been bitter, insisting that it was nothing at all, that he would have been fine if she had just kept her little bratty mouth shut.

She remembered how it had hurt to be called a “tattletale”.

Now, it was that all over again, but just like the broken arm, crazy killer trees in the woods were certainly not “nothing” and no one should be insisting that they were. Maybe Scotty and Ash could convince themselves they were shadows on the wall, things going bump in the night, but Cheryl had the scars to prove it.

Had the screams to prove it. And now she was going back.

“Cheryl, this is stupid,” Scotty was complaining.

“You’ll see,” she fired back, beginning to lead them into the woods. She tried to remember why she had walked out there in the first place. It had seemed sensible in the night, in the dark, as if something had been purring in her ear for her to come join them.

The moment her foot touched the base of a tree, a branch whipped out and flew past her, headed straight for Scotty’s neck. He yelled out in surprise, and Ash turned to gape at the sight.

Cheryl let out a small, nervous laugh. This wasn’t her intention. 

“Shit, Cheryl!” Ash exclaimed, and there was a chastisement in it that annoyed her. It wasn’t her fault that these things were real, and it wasn’t her fault that they hadn’t listened to her until she gave them a practical demonstration. If only she had figured out how to kill these things before they had come out… Now, all they could do was run.

She grabbed Ash by the hand, first, and he grabbed Scotty’s hand in his own and yanked. Scott was, it seemed, rooted to the spot, eyes wide and his body shivering in terror. 

“Cheryl, you can’t be serious!” he exclaimed, and Cheryl shook her head, because there wasn’t any time to push through all of Scott’s questions. She had accepted it, she had understood it, and if Scott was too slow on the uptake then that was really his problem, wasn’t it?

He didn’t deserve to die, though.

“Run, both of you!” she commanded, and pulled Ash as hard as she could; she felt his arm wrenching for a second and she pictured the rack, the way it would pull someone’s arm out of joint. 

Ash, for his part, didn’t stay rooted to the spot for long. He flew through the air; he look like a kite. Pretty and floral and nice to look at, but without a whole lot of substance (no, that wasn’t quite true, he had listened in the end, he really did listen, Cheryl could rely on him – she had to believe that). 

She was running, and she could hear Scotty’s voice, somewhere, screaming. His voice sounded so high that she didn’t know if she could take it – he was up so high that maybe only dogs could hear him, really. 

Could the trees chase after them? Cheryl hoped not. It was bad enough that they could move their wicked arms, but if they somehow had legs as well? What would she do?

It was then that it struck her – Linda and Shelly were both back at the cabin, helpless. Just the same way she had been before her eyes had been opened to the evil here. They were probably relaxing by the fire now, laughing about how silly Scotty and Ash were, how spooked Cheryl had been. Linda was probably using phrases like “the poor dear” while Shelly laughed along inanely – Scotty didn’t date her for her brains, after all.

The idea of them ripped apart filled Cheryl with dread – they didn’t deserve that, and they wouldn’t even see it coming.

None of them had seen it coming when they had driven down there, smiling and laughing, singing. What had she thought this week would be? She couldn’t even remember.

“We have to go back.”

“What are you talking about?” Scotty yelled back at her. His voice was getting shrill; the terror was coming in now, creeping in behind him and hiding in his hair like lice. 

Cheryl’s fear, however, was fading. Being burned away, becoming vaper. 

“We have to go back.”

“Go back to… go back to that?” Scott exclaimed, “Are you completely out of your goddamned mind?”

“Probably. But… We have to go back and get Linda and Shelly,” she said.

“We can send help back later!” Scott said. “We need to get back out over the bridge and then we need the cops to lay waist to that whole goddamned forest of… whatever the hell is going on out there. They’ll keep.”

“You did not just say ‘they’ll keep’ about our friends, Scott! Ashley, you wanna chime in with something at some point here, by the way?”

Ash looked back and forth, his face still pale white.

“I think we should go back for Linda and Shelly,” he said finally.

“Yeah, well, forget that,” Scott said.

“Okay, or I could go back for them and you and Cheryl go to get help,” Ash suggested, looking unsure of that particular plan. “One of us should go for help at least. Scotty, is that going to be you?”

Scott turned his head a little bit at the woods and then looked back.

“Well, I’m not going on my own,” he said finally. “If you guys are going back, I guess I am, too.”

“And Scotty, that’s why you never got a bid for Sigma Pi,” Ash pointed out. “You don’t do very well under pressure.”

***

They chose weapons from what they could find near the bridge. Most of these were, thankfully non-possessed, sticks, as well as a discarded shovel and some rocks. Cheryl wondered whether this had any chance of success and then, more worried yet, whether Linda and Shelly were even still alive back there. Were they trying to fight off whatever this thing was, or had they succumbed to it, or were they sitting there unaware chatting about Linda’s card trick?

“We’re all going to die,” Scott mumbled. “This wasn’t how I wanted to spend my vacation. I just wanted to get laid, man.”

“Please shut up. After my run-in with those trees, I think I’m off sex for the rest of my life,” Cheryl shot back.

“Can you please not talk about sex? I mean, you’re my sister. It’s not right,” Ash chimed in.

“ _That’s_ what you’re worried about right now?"

Ash didn’t respond to that, but continued, “Well, if we can get back to the cabin, there’s that rifle. Scotty found it earlier.”

“If we live long enough to make it there,” Scott replied. “I still think we’re going in the wrong direction… But… I guess I’m willing to go wherever you want me to go. Because I’m not going anywhere alone.”

“Put ‘em in, guys,” Ash said, sticking out his hand and waiting for Scott and Cheryl to place their hands on top. When he did, Ash exclaimed, “Sigma Pi! Do or die! Drink that whiskey, eat that fry!”

Scott turned and looked at him. 

“Let’s go,” Cheryl grumbled. “It’s a long way back.”

***

Surprisingly, whatever it was that was in the woods let them make it back to the cabin. Perhaps even the evil within was surprised that they had been willing to go back.

“Ash, I just thought of something,” Scott whispered as they started to open the door. “What if this actually is the Sigma Pi initiation?”

“That would have to go against the honor code in one way or another,” Cheryl mused. “Let’s get in, get them, get out and never speak of this again.” She sucked in a breath and let the door slowly creak open, peeking into the darkness. “Linda? Shelly?”

“I hope Shelly’s not dead,” Scott whispered, “She’s too hot to die.”

“Please tell me you aren’t actually this, like all the time,” Cheryl said. “Like you seem like an onion inside another onion. Or a bread loaf entirely made of crusts.”

“I have hidden depths,” Scott argued. “I’m here, aren’t I? I could have left you both.”

“Yeah, you’ve been such a help…”

Scott paused.

“I have something to say, only because we might be about to die.”

“What?” Cheryl asked.

“I didn’t… not get a bid to Sigma Pi.”

“What?” Cheryl asked again. “You were talking about it for the whole summer. You turned them down?”

“No… I didn’t go to the initiation. So I didn’t complete it.”

“Well, why didn’t you go? And why do I even care?”

“There was something else the same night,” Scott said, then mumbled something Cheryl couldn’t quite hear.

“Speak up.”

“Tryouts for _The Nutcracker_.”

“What?” Cheryl exclaimed. “…You do ballet?”

“Shh!” Ash said, “Both of you. You’re waking the dead. Literally.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and then yelled, “Linda! Shelly!”

“Oh, yes, let’s make sure we’re so quiet,” Scott grumbled. “Also, if you two ever tell anyone that, I’ll deny it.”

“I don’t think we’ll have that problem,” Ash mused. 

Footsteps began to scuttle down the stairs, and Cheryl raised the stick protectively. 

Linda appeared at the bottom of the stairs, narrowly ducking and missing Cheryl’s stick.

“What the hell, Cheryl?” she asked, “Where even were you guys?”

“We were dealing with killer trees!” Ash declared. 

“Not exactly killer,” Scott said, “Those trees wanted to do unspeakable things to us.”

“Well then, stop speaking of them, Scotty,” Cheryl fired back. “Where’s Shelly? We need to get out of here before it’s too late.”

“She was just in the bathroom,” Linda said, “Where are we going anyway?”

“Home,” Ash said firmly, “And not a minute too soon.”

That was the moment when the clattering of feet on the stairs came barreling towards them, and Shelly, eyes wide and teeth sharp, hovering in mid-air and going right towards Scotty, who stood in one spot and began to scream. 

“Holy shit,” Ash said, “Cheryl, you go for the rifle. I’ll, uh…” He reached out and grabbed Cheryl’s stick, attempting to whack at Shelly with it. 

“You want me to shoot Shelly?” Cheryl yelled, diving for the basement door.

“Yes!” Scotty yelled.

“Well, I mean, don’t kill her, but see if you can, uh, knock her out or something,” Ash managed.

Cheryl sighed and opened the basement door, diving down the steps as quickly as she could without falling on her face. She looked around, trying to figure out which dusty shelf might house the rifle, She wondered if it even still fired. What about rock salt? Would that do something against whatever Shelly had begun, or was that an urban legend? Or maybe they should douse the whole cabin in salt, or just light it on fire? That wouldn’t do Shelly any good, though. There had to be…

Cheryl stuck her hand into the wood of the shelf and began to feel around. There had to be something.

And then her fingers struck something that felt hard and stiff, like leather. After a few tries, she managed to slide it back around so she could see it.

It was a book. 

***

“Ashley! I found this book.”

“Not now, Cheryl.”

“Do you think it might be important?”

Ash whirled away from where he was now attempting to corral Shelly with a rake he had found somewhere to say again, “Not now, Cheryl!”

Scott didn’t reply at all, which wasn’t a good sign in the least. Cheryl wondered if he had finally given up the ghost, which was a bad phrase to use considering the circumstances. 

Cheryl looked back at the book in her hands, then looked at the fire still burning in the fireplace. When had they put it on? When had they thought this would be a fun week of drinking, hanging out, and having fun? When had it all gone so very wrong?

It had to have been when Scott played the goddamned tape. The tape of a book.

 _This book_ , Cheryl realized. The book had done it all.

Maybe the key was in destroying the horrible thing, the disgusting thing.

Of course, it was just as possible that the book would get furious at any attempt to destroy it, and would send more demon trees and possessed bodies to come take them in revenge. But she didn’t have time to consider that, and she didn’t have time to ask Ash about it either. There had been some moment in there in which she had quit being the little sister and she had grown up.

Well, here she went. 

She threw the book. She threw it with as much force as she could muster, because it didn’t want to go. It clung to her hand and seemed to be trying to peel the skin off, like a burn. 

But it dislodged, and into the fire it went. Cheryl didn’t have time to watch it burn, as she held her hand against her sweater and looked over at the others.

Blood began to rain down upon the cabin from every pore. From the lightbulb, from the walls. From, seeming, the sky.

Maybe she had just killed them all. Maybe they would drown in this.

But then Cheryl heard a voice.

“Scotty!” came a cry.

It was Shelly’s voice.

Cheryl started to cry. She was real. She was really, really real.

***

They were back in the car, driving towards the destroyed bridge, driving towards the path that would lead them out one way or another, or maybe would kill them all.

But all five of them were alive, even if they were traumatized and covered in blood.

They didn’t speak a word for a long, long time.

Someone had to break the silence, and that someone was Scotty.

“So Cheryl, guess it was a heavy flow day, huh?”

And Cheryl laughed. Hysterically. For the next fifteen minutes straight. 

Because maybe some things really did never change.


End file.
